Former world No. 3 Ivan Ljubicic has stepped into the growing dispute around tennis scheduling, arguing that the sport is facing criticism no matter what it does.

The debate has intensified in 2026 as players continue to speak out about a tour that many feel has become too physical and too long. That has fed renewed demands for calendar reform, while injuries to Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Jack Draper have also sharpened concerns over the demands placed on the game’s leading figures. Questions around the quality of tennis balls have been part of that wider discussion.

At the US Open, late-night finishes have drawn particular attention. Venus Williams did not begin her first-round match until after midnight, while Alexander Zverev has had back-to-back finishes in the early hours of the morning. Greg Rusedski has also called for weed to be banned from Flushing Meadows after Aryna Sabalenka’s latest complaints.

Against that backdrop, former British player Mark Petchey argued that the sport’s wider momentum should not be ignored, saying tennis is “ exploding in popularity” and that more should be done to celebrate the “hardest sport in the world”.

Ljubicic, who was Roger Federer’s former coach, responded after Christopher Clarey highlighted a run of late finishes at the US Open. He tweeted, “THREE nights past 2 a.m., not the kind of record you want to be setting. Is there not a much better way for the health and well-being of everyone involved in the tournament?”

He later added, “Well we have @rolandgarros scheduling one night session match – controversial? @Wimbledon with 11pm curfew… Controversial?… Seems like whatever our sport does is controversial…”

The response to Clarey’s post was mixed, but many agreed with Ljubicic’s view. Whether the tournament makes changes now or later remains unclear, yet the issue has again placed tennis under scrutiny at one of its biggest events.

Carlos Alcaraz has moved through the opening stages of the US Open with the kind of control that has made him the player to beat.

After not competing since April, the Spaniard has returned to action in New York and taken care of Roman Safiullin, Jaime Faria, and Wu Yibing to reach the fourth round. He has lost only one set across those three matches, and even with a serve that still appears below his best, he has looked composed, sharp, and increasingly convincing.

His next assignment is against Tommy Paul on Sunday, 6th September, with the order of play still to be confirmed. Even so, the match is expected to be on Arthur Ashe Stadium. It is shaping up as his most demanding test so far, and the level of opposition does not get lighter from there, with Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe among the names waiting in the next phase of the event.

For all that, the opening week has largely unfolded in Alcaraz’s favor. While he has advanced with relative ease, several of his rivals have already exited. Novak Djokovic, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Alex de Minaur, and Arthur Fils were all beaten in the first week, while Alexander Zverev, the top seed, has been pushed to five sets in both of his opening matches against Lorenzo Sonego and Quentin Halys, with both contests stretching into the early hours.

There had even been doubt in some quarters about whether Alcaraz would take part in singles at all, despite his mixed doubles debut alongside Serena Williams. Marion Bartoli addressed that speculation on Sky Sports Tennis after that defeat, saying: “When he played the mixed doubles with Serena, and they lost the second match, the rumours going around with different coaches was that he was not going to take to the court in singles,” said the Frenchwoman.

She added: “That was the rumour going into the players’ area. But he is through the first week and breezing through it. He has done the job perfectly. He has been on point with the mentality as well. He was fist-pumping a lot, having a lot of energy. You can see it is a joy to be out there.”

Greg Rusedski has urged US Open organisers to take action after several players raised concerns about the smell of weed at Flushing Meadows.

The issue surfaced when Aryna Sabalenka was forced to pause her third-round match against Kamila Rakhimova because of the cannabis smell inside Louis Armstrong Stadium. The No 1 seed told the umpire that someone was “smoking weed” and later described the situation as very “tricky” when trying to compete.

Adrian Mannarino also criticised the atmosphere, saying the US Open was becoming a “bit of a zoo” because of the marijuana smell and crowds that were not following normal tennis etiquette. Katie Boulter said the same kind of aromas were off-putting as well.

Even though recreational weed use is legal in New York, Rusedski believes it should not be part of the tournament environment. Speaking on Off Court, the former US Open finalist said, “In New York, it’s legal to smoke weed. You can have it in your possession. From my perspective, I don’t like it at a sporting event. I don’t think it puts a good image for the city.

“What does that say to kids, if you’ve got that smell and stench around? I think the US Open should be a no smoking zone, whether it’s cigarettes, whether it’s weed.

“This is an athletic competition. I don’t understand how the USTA (United States Tennis Association) can’t get together with the mayor of New York (Zohran Mamdani) and say, ‘Look, guys, we don’t want this at our venue and we don’t want this for the image of tennis’.

“I’m not sure if you’re allowed to do that at the American football games and baseball and all those other sporting events, maybe you are, but I just don’t think that sits together with sport and I can understand the player’s point of view.

“I don’t like the smell of it. I don’t like it around that environment and I think they’ve got to do something about it. I agree with Boulter. I agree with Sabalenka. It has no right, I believe, to be at the US Open, to be at majors, to be at tennis tournaments.

“It’s the wrong image. It’s the wrong message. Yes, society’s opened up in that respect. Maybe I’m old fashioned, but that’s just my view.”

Rusedski added that USTA CEO Craig Tiley will likely listen to the players and look for solutions. He also said the tournament’s image matters beyond tennis, with financial consequences if the event is seen in the wrong light.

He added, “He [Tiley] will take all these things in from the players. He will find solutions. He did a great job with the Australian Open. Because this is a global image and if we’re talking about it, other people around the world are talking about it. This is a premier event that makes hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars.

“Not only for the tennis tournament, the USTA, but also for the city of New York with hotels and everything that’s encompassed is probably maybe a billion to $2billion revenue for the city and the tournament. So they want to get this right and they want to get the right image. So I think next year, I don’t think we’ll be talking about these things.”